Former Rockville councilman decries "awful" campaign tactics

Former Rockville City Councilman Jim Marrinan, who served on the Council from 1991-1999, condemned a last-minute attack mailing that contained false accusations against Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton during Community Forum at last night's Mayor and Council meeting. Saying it was the worst political behavior he had witnessed in 40 years in the City, Marrinan suggested the tactic backfired, as evidenced by Newton's overwhelming victory on Election Day.

Marrinan termed the mailer, sent out by the mayoral campaign of Sima Osdoby and emblazoned with logos of the Team Rockville slate, "awful."

Later at the meeting, the newly-sworn-in Mayor and Council held a public hearing to start the process of annexing the former CarMax property near the Shady Grove Metro station into the City. The site is at 15931 Frederick Road (MD 355).

Councilmember Mark Pierzchala questioned why the street between the CarMax site and the new Bainbridge Shady Grove apartments wasn't being included in the annexation. The street is currently owned by WMATA.

Planning commissioners had criticized the planned apartment building at the site for including no retail to activate the streetscape around it, or reduce driving by residents. They did ultimately recommend the proposed annexation plan.

Attorney Pat Harris, representing the developers 355 Partners, LLC and Frederick Road, LLC on the project at 15931 Frederick Road, said that the high ceilings and windows of the building's ground floor will allow future retail build-out if the retail market improves.

The Mayor and Council also discussed legislative priorities for the upcoming 2016 session of the Maryland General Assembly, such as school construction funding, and scheduling meetings on the topic of parking at Rockville Town Square. Parking problems have been blamed for recent business closures there.

Newton said she would like to include landowner Federal Realty in an upcoming worksession, and take action on the matter before the holiday shopping season gets fully underway. However, last night's scheduling discussion made it unclear that such timely action on the issue would be possible.

Photo courtesy City of Rockville

Rockville's first Mayor and Council to serve 4-year term sworn-in / 2015 Inauguration photos

Rockville's first Mayor and Council to serve a four-year term was sworn in yesterday at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. Peerless Rockville's Eileen McGuckian served as host for the Inauguration, attended by a number of past and present elected officials. Among the crowd were former Gaithersburg Mayor and current Montgomery County Councilmember Sid Katz; Maryland state Delegates Jim Gilchrist, Kumar Barve and Andrew Platt; former City Councilmembers Bob Wright, Jim Marrinan, Tom Moore and Glennon Harrison; and Rockville Planning Commission Chair Don Hadley.

There was some irony present as McGuckian noted both that the Mayor and Council remain a four-woman/one-man body again this term, while - historically - the City's first elected commissioners were chosen by 66 white male voters.

Incumbent Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton was sworn in for a second term by Montgomery County Clerk of the Court Barbara Meiklejohn. Newton then swore in her Council colleagues Beryl Feinberg, Julie Palakovich Carr, Mark Pierzchala and Virginia Onley.

Rockville Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton
swears in Councilmember Virginia Onley

In her remarks following the swearing-in, Newton first acknowledged Friday's terror attacks in Paris. Noting that it is "a very tragic time in our world," she said, "we mourn with those who face this tragedy." She used the words of John Wesley to sum up the approach she hopes she and the Council will take - "Together we can."

After listing some accomplishments of the Mayor and Council's previous term - including negotiating an adequate gym for students at the future Richard Montgomery Elementary No. 5, tackling a compensation and classification review after 6 years of stagnant city salaries, and reviving walking town meetings - Newton cited the recent film Bridge of Spies as representative of the cooperation they will have to work toward in this term.

"If they can end the Cold War," Newton said, "we can come together as the governing body of Rockville." She added jokingly that City staff might also be able to go home before midnight on Monday nights. That drew knowing chuckles from many in the crowd who have sat through marathon Mayor and Council meetings in recent years.

Newton promised the Rockville of the future would be "multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi-priced." She added that the Rockville Pike Plan and citywide Master Plan need to consider the City as a whole, not in isolated "segments." The Pike Plan also mustn't "put City taxpayers on the hook for rights-of-way," she said.

In reference to the debate over how much the City should change its character under pressure from developers, Newton said Rockville doesn't "need to change who we are, as much as we need to trust who we are."

Richard Montgomery junior
Alex Haddad speaks on the
theme of "trust"

The theme of trust carried over from the final part of Newton's speech to a spoken-word performance by Richard Montgomery High School junior Alex Haddad.

A blurry photo of the
Rev. Mansfield Kaseman
speaking with former
City Councilman Jim Marrinan
following the inauguration

One of the most prominent clerical leaders in modern Rockville history, Mansfield Kaseman, also picked up on the trust theme in his closing remarks. "Let us go forward a trusting and very grateful people," Kaseman said, exhorting citizens to resign themselves to not merely being "bystanders, but up-standers."

"Together, we can, and together we will, do great things for Rockville," Newton vowed.

Following the ceremony, which included a Rockville Police color guard, attendees gathered in the lobby for a reception.

The lobby of the
F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre

Cupcakes

Delegate (and 8th District
Democratic Congressional candidate)
Kumar Barve and his
District 17 colleague, Del. Andrew Platt

Past City Councilman Glennon Harrison
and Acting City Clerk Sara Taylor-Ferrell

Outgoing Councilmember Tom Moore
and Platt; City Attorney Debra Yerg Daniel
is in the background at right

Councilmember Mark Pierzchala speaks
with constituents

City Manager Barbara Matthews
confers with City Communications
Manager Marylou Berg at left;
Planning Commission Chair Don Hadley
in background-center; Onley in foreground

Councilmember Onley poses
for a photo 

Mayor Newton greets
attendees after the ceremony

Platt
and Councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr

Barve and Newton

New Dessert Shooters at Hooters of Rockville (Photo)

If you remember those shot glass-sized desserts at Timpano Italian Chophouse down the Pike, there's something similar now at Hooters of Rockville.

The four varieties include:

Peanut Butter Pie - Peanut butter nougat with chocolate candy pieces atop crunchy chocolate cookie crumb

Key Lime - Key Lime-flavored sweet cream topped with whipped cream, on top of graham cracker crumb. Hooters is calling this the "Official Dessert of the Florida Keys"

Strawberry Cheesecake - Cheesecake with 2 layers of house-made strawberry topping on top of cookie crumb

Chocolate Decadence - Chocolate mousse topped with ganache and chocolate curls on chocolate crumb

Hooters of Rockville

1584 Rockville Pike

(301) 230-2134

Photo courtesy Hooters of Rockville

Alleged sex meet-up at Rockville hotel ends in stabbing (Photos)

An apparent prostitution case gone bad has Montgomery County Police searching for a suspect in a violent stabbing at a Rockville hotel. According to police, the male suspect arranged via online classifieds to meet the 22-year-old female victim at an unidentified Rockville hotel. There, they had agreed the woman would engage in sexual acts with the suspect in exchange for cash.

On October 7, around 11:30 AM, the victim and suspect met at the hotel. The suspect paid the victim the agreed fee. He then forced the victim’s hands behind her back. The victim pulled a small knife from a sheath hanging from her necklace, and began struggling with the suspect. Amidst the struggle, the suspect stabbed the victim. The suspect then claimed he was a law enforcement officer, and was trying to arrest her. The suspect then took his cash, and the knife, and fled the hotel.

Police describe the suspect as a black male, in his 30s, approximately 6’00” to 6’03” tall, bald, "very muscular," and dressed in all-black. He wore black loafers with silver buckles, and a tan baseball cap with an unspecified logo.

Anyone with information about this suspect is asked to call the 1st District Investigative Section at 240-773-6084. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).  Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information provided to them that leads to the arrest and/or indictment of this suspect.

Soft opening of Lavande Patisserie this Saturday in Rockville (Photos)

The long-awaited opening of Lavande Patisserie at 275 N. Washington Street in Rockville is near. Stop by when they soft-open at 11:00 AM this Saturday, November 14, to try French bakery specialties like macarons and croissants, and much more.

Serving breakfast and lunch, Lavande is positioning itself as a "farm to table café". It is one of four new Asian-owned businesses in JBG's new mixed-use retail center.

Rockville City Council candidate challenges election results

Rockville City Council candidate Richard Gottfried has contacted acting City Clerk Sara Taylor-Ferrell, and has challenged the results of last Tuesday's election. Gottfried is asking for a manual recount of all paper ballots, under Section 8-41 of the Rockville City Code.

Gottfried finished 282 votes behind incumbent Councilmember Virginia Onley, according to the City's posted election results. In his letter to Taylor-Ferrell, he cites an "excessively high number of under-votes, 1762 to be exact, which constitutes 28% of total ballots casted." He also notes that the new voting machines did not allow voters to compare their paper ballot with the scanned ballot for accuracy.

One other Election Day issue I've heard about from a source was that each polling place did not have a Chief Election Judge on-site at all times. I cannot personally verify this, as I was not at every polling place at every hour of the day. Reportedly, several judges were floating from site to site as needed. Article 10-203-B of Maryland election law states:

2. One or two election judges in each precinct shall:
   
   1. (1)  be designated chief judge; and
      
   2. (2)  supervise the staff at the polling place. 
      

 Photo via Vote Richard Gottfried website

Noodles and Company closes at Rockville Town Square

Noodles and Company has closed on Gibbs Street in Rockville Town Square. Outgoing Rockville City Councilmember Tom Moore sent this photo. The company has been expanding in the area this year, so this came as a bit of a surprise.